This invention relates to a composition for producing foam, for use as a ground market particularly for agricultural use; and more particularly to a composition and the use thereof to produce a stable foam to provide markings on the ground, in connection with the application of crop control chemicals.
In the application of liquid crop control chemicals to large acreage areas, the equipment used includes spray booms of substantial transverse length, up to sixth feet for example. From the standpoint of effective application of the control chemicals, it is important that no areas of the field be missed; and from the standpoint of efficient and economic application of the chemicals, it is important that the swathes traversed by the spray boom do not overlap each other. To avoid the above mentioned "missed areas" or "overlaps" the spraying equipments have been adopted to provide some form of marker, which marks at least one edge of the swath traversed by the spray boom, which marks can be used as a guide by the same equipment after lapping the field, for example, or by a following piece of equipment which traverses the adjacent swath. To be truly effective, the compositions used for such marking must be stable for a sufficient period of time to allow the equipment to lap the field for example, and the marking material must be stable for varying conditions of the soil and of the ambient atmosphere. Desirably the marking material should remain stable for at least thirty minutes. It should be stable over a range of soil temperatures and over a range of deggree of soil alkalinity. It should also remain stable for the desired period for both low and high humidity conditions, and for conditions of relatively high wind velocity. There has been a need for any years for reliable and economic ground marking systems, for this described use.
Various types of dye markers have been used in the past, and some are effective from the standpoint of an effective and stable mark. One disadvantage of dye markers is that they are quite costly, and another disadvantage is that they are messy from the standpoint of the equipment and from the standpoint of the person and clothing of the operatiors of the equipment.
While various commercial soaps and detergents have been used for marker foams, a major fault of soap markers is the short life of the mark, and the fact that it has little resistance to wind or temperatures and can only be used on a virtually windless day.
A principal object of this invention is to provide a composition for producing a foam ground marker, which is both reliable and economical.
A further object of this invention is to provide a composition for mixture with water, to produce a ground marking foam which will remain stable for various conditions of soil and atmosphere for a significant period of time.
Another object of this invention is to provide a composition for producing a ground marking foam, wherein the cost of application is only a fraction of the cost of dye type compositions for the same purpose.
Another object of this invention is to provide a composition in concentrate form, for admixture with water in the ratio of about 1 part concentrate to 50 to 80 parts of water to produce a reliable and inexpensive ground marking foam.
These and other objects are accomplished in a composition in the form of a concentrate which is effective for producing a ground marking foam when subsequently extended with water in the ratio of 1 part concentrate to about 50 to 80 parts water by volume. The principal ingredients of the concentrate are: a foam producing ingredient in the form of a surfactant comprising from 3 to 20 percent by weight: a foam stabilizing ingredient comprising from 1 to 10 percent by weight; and water as a diluent comprising from 70 to 90 percent by weight. The foam producing ingredient is a compound selected from a group consisting of a fatty alcohol sulfate, an ethoxylated fatty acid sulfate, fatty alcohol sarcosinates, and primary and secondary alkanolamide sulfosuccinates, and salts of said compounds. The foam stabilizing ingredient is a compound selected from a group consisting of high molecular weight alcohols including laruic (C.sub.12), myristic (C.sub.14), palmitic (C.sub.16), a betaine derivative of carboxylic and dicarboxylic acids, the salt of said betaine derivative, a fatty acid dimethylamine oxide, and an amidoalkyl amine oxide.
The novel features and the advantages of the invention, as well as additional objects thereof, will be understood more fully from the following description.